CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Chainguard vs Snyk

Chainguard sells hardened open source artifacts that replace vulnerable or malicious versions found publicly. Snyk sells the AI Security Platform, which secures the code AI writes, the agents it runs, and the applications it builds. CISO Tribune files both under Software supply chain security. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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Up to four companies side by side.

  • Chainguard
  • Snyk
Chainguard vs Snyk: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
ChainguardChainguard sells hardened open source artifacts that replace vulnerable or malicious versions found publicly.chainguard.devSnykSnyk sells the AI Security Platform, which secures the code AI writes, the agents it runs, and the applications it builds.snyk.io
What it sells
  • Chainguard Containers[7][10][14]Container images for over 3,000 projects, rebuilt continuously.
  • Chainguard Libraries[12]A malware-free catalog of open source dependencies.
  • Chainguard VMs[13]Minimal Linux virtual machine images based on Chainguard OS.
  • Chainguard OS Packages[14]30,000+ zero-CVE packages for building custom images.
  • Chainguard Actions[15]A catalog of 1,000+ hardened third-party actions.
  • Chainguard Guardener[10]A migration tool that rebuilds Dockerfiles layer by layer.
  • Chainguard Workspaces[19]Chainguard-hardened microVMs that isolate untrusted code.
  • Snyk Code[12][14][19]Snyk Code provides SAST scanning.
  • Snyk Container[12][13]Container and Kubernetes security solutions for developers and DevOps.
  • Snyk Agent Fix[14]Snyk Agent Fix is an AI-driven tool that automatically fixes code vulnerabilities.
  • Snyk Studio[19]Snyk Studio is a solution for securing the AI-driven development lifecycle.
  • DeepCode AI[20]DeepCode AI powers the Snyk AI Security Platform.
  • Agentic AppSec[12][25]Security agents that find, fix, and verify vulnerabilities continuously.
  • AI-SPM[1][12][18][24]AI Security Posture Management for the AI assets in code.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesBoston, United States[2]
Founded
Not stated on its pages2015[2][17]
Ownership and funding
Privately held[2][3][5][9]Not stated on its pagesSeries G (USD 196.5 million round), December 13, 2022[3]
Named customers
Not stated on its pages
Recent news
  • November 3, 2026Chainguard introduced Chainguard Harness, an offering for hunting exploitable vulnerabilities in a running application, and opened its beta waitlist.[21]
  • August 17, 2026Chainguard announced that its Chainguard Containers reached SLSA Build Level 3.[7]
  • July 21, 2026Booz Allen Hamilton signed an enterprise license agreement with Chainguard.[8]
  • June 15, 2026Chainguard and partner organizations announced Athena, an industry coalition for the orchestrated defense of open source software.[22]
  • October 15, 2026Snyk announced Evo Agentic AppSec, a team of AI security agents that finds, fixes and blocks vulnerabilities in code.[25]
  • September 17, 2026Snyk said Evo by Snyk now accounts for 60% of its new deal volume and drove a 30% increase in average contract value.[26]
  • September 17, 2026Snyk said its Evo product line accounts for 60% of its new deal volume and has lifted average contract value by 30%.[9]
  • August 4, 2026Snyk made Evo Continuous Offensive Security generally available, offering automated AI pentesting and agent red teaming that runs continuously against applications.[10]
  • June 23, 2026Snyk released Evo Agentic Development Security, which governs the tools AI coding agents use, what they do, and the code they generate.[11]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 3, 2026[9]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, Chainguard sells mainly to engineering and security teams whose developers and AI agents pull open source software. Chainguard says its FIPS-validated container variants and OS-level STIG hardening are available for regulated environments. Chainguard addresses vendors handling cardholder data that face PCI DSS vulnerability management requirements. Chainguard says its VMs run across cloud and on-premise environments. Chainguard names compliance frameworks such as FedRAMP and CMMC among those its zero-CVE images help with.Snyk speaks to organizations building with AI, and to security teams that lack an inventory of the models, workflows, or agents running in production. Snyk describes its SAST tool as built by and for developers. Snyk's platform integrates with IDEs, CI/CD pipelines, and AI coding assistants, which points to teams that work in those tools.
Last verified
September 27, 2026October 10, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Chainguard and Snyk are both filed under Software supply chain security.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Chainguard's primary category is Software supply chain security; Snyk's is Software composition analysis.
  • Snyk is also filed under Static application security testing and Secrets detection.
  • Chainguard lists Chainguard Containers, Chainguard Libraries, Chainguard VMs, Chainguard OS Packages, Chainguard Actions and 2 more. Snyk lists Snyk Code, Snyk Container, Snyk Agent Fix, Snyk Studio, DeepCode AI and 2 more.
  • Snyk is headquartered in Boston, United States.
  • Snyk was founded in 2015.
  • Chainguard is privately held.
  • Snyk's latest recorded funding is Series G (USD 196.5 million round), dated December 13, 2022.
  • Snyk publicly names MongoDB, Skyscanner, Auth0, DFDS and Helvetia.

What it sells: Chainguard

What Chainguard Containers does[7][10][14]
Chainguard offers container images for over 3,000 projects, and hundreds of Helm charts, rebuilt continuously in a SLSA Level 3 environment. Custom Assembly configures Chainguard Factory to build images to a customer's specifications. Chainguard offers over 1,200 FIPS-validated container variants and OS-level STIG hardening for regulated environments. Every Chainguard image ships with Sigstore signatures, a signed SBOM and SLSA L2 provenance.
What Chainguard Libraries does[12]
Chainguard Libraries is a malware-free catalog of open source dependencies. Chainguard offers a catalog of Python, Java, JavaScript, Go and .NET packages. Chainguard Libraries works with existing artifact managers and workflows.
What Chainguard VMs does[13]
Chainguard VMs are minimal Linux images based on Chainguard OS and come in three types. Chainguard VMs support AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and on-premise hypervisors including VMware, Nutanix and OpenStack. Chainguard VMs carry a CVE remediation SLA of 7 days for critical and 14 days for high, medium, and low through automated rebuilds.
What Chainguard OS Packages does[14]
Chainguard offers 30,000+ zero-CVE packages, including every package powering Chainguard Containers. Chainguard OS Packages has a FIPS variant built with the latest versions of Chainguard's FIPS-validated cryptographic modules.
What Chainguard Actions does[15]
Chainguard Actions are drop-in replacements for upstream GitHub Actions. Every Chainguard Action ships with a full hardening report.
What Chainguard Guardener does[10]
Chainguard Guardener analyzes and rebuilds Dockerfiles layer by layer, maps packages and tests incrementally. Guardener opens a migration pull request for all actions with a drop-in Chainguard equivalent.
What Chainguard Workspaces does[19]
Chainguard Workspaces isolates untrusted code inside Chainguard-hardened microVMs. Chainguard Workspaces is currently in beta and is a Technology Preview.

What it sells: Snyk

What Snyk Code does[12][14][19]
Snyk Code provides SAST scanning. Snyk's vulnerability scanner is compatible with most popular languages, IDEs, and CI/CD tools. Snyk maintains a database of over 35,000 real-world vulnerabilities and fixes written by Snyk security experts. The Snyk Agent delivers AI-generated fixes for Snyk Code issues directly within a pull request.
What Snyk Container does[12][13]
Snyk Container lets developers know the risks in each image and provides one-click upgrades and alternative image recommendations. Snyk Container has priority scoring based on risk signals such as exploit maturity and insecure workload configs. Snyk Container monitors images for newly discovered vulnerabilities and base image updates and sends alerts via Slack, Jira, email, or custom integration. Snyk Container is available to bundle with Snyk Open Source.
What Snyk Agent Fix does[14]
Snyk Agent Fix is an AI-driven tool that automatically fixes code vulnerabilities. Snyk Agent Fix uses an agentic architecture for AI-powered code fixes. Snyk Agent Fix provides automatic remediation for issues found by Snyk Code's SAST scanning.
What Snyk Studio does[19]
Snyk Studio is a solution for securing the AI-driven development lifecycle. Snyk Studio is used to prevent new AI-generated vulnerabilities and clear existing security debt. Snyk offers delta findings, a view focused on vulnerabilities introduced only in new code.
What DeepCode AI does[20]
DeepCode AI powers the Snyk AI Security Platform and uses frontier AI models fine-tuned with security-specific context. Snyk's DeepCode AI code analyzer was designed to find, autofix, and prioritize vulnerabilities, and manage tech debt. DeepCode AI supports Snyk's context-aware risk scoring, which assesses the popularity of the affected package and the reachability of vulnerable code.
What Agentic AppSec does[12][25]
Snyk's Agentic AppSec uses security agents to find, fix, and verify vulnerabilities continuously. Humans set the bar in Snyk's Agentic AppSec.
What AI-SPM does[1][12][18][24]
AI Security Posture Management (AI-SPM) gives visibility, governance, and security oversight of the AI assets in code. AI-SPM maps assets, scores their risk, and helps enforce governance. AI-SPM scans the repositories that are imported after Evo is enabled.

Questions about Chainguard and Snyk

What do Chainguard and Snyk sell?
Chainguard sells Chainguard Containers, Chainguard Libraries, Chainguard VMs, Chainguard OS Packages, Chainguard Actions and 2 more. Snyk sells Snyk Code, Snyk Container, Snyk Agent Fix, Snyk Studio, DeepCode AI and 2 more.
Are Chainguard and Snyk in the same category?
They share Software supply chain security. Chainguard's primary category is Software supply chain security and Snyk's is Software composition analysis.
Where are Chainguard and Snyk headquartered?
Snyk is headquartered in Boston, United States.
When were Chainguard and Snyk founded?
Snyk was founded in 2015.
Who owns Chainguard and Snyk?
Chainguard is privately held. Snyk's latest recorded funding is Series G (USD 196.5 million round), dated December 13, 2022.
Which customers do Chainguard and Snyk name?
Snyk publicly names MongoDB, Skyscanner, Auth0, DFDS and Helvetia.
Who are Chainguard and Snyk sold to?
From its own pages, Chainguard sells mainly to engineering and security teams whose developers and AI agents pull open source software. Snyk speaks to organizations building with AI, and to security teams that lack an inventory of the models, workflows, or agents running in production.
What have Chainguard and Snyk announced recently?
November 3, 2026: Chainguard introduced Chainguard Harness, an offering for hunting exploitable vulnerabilities in a running application, and opened its beta waitlist. October 15, 2026: Snyk announced Evo Agentic AppSec, a team of AI security agents that finds, fixes and blocks vulnerabilities in code.

About Chainguard

Chainguard sells hardened open source artifacts that replace vulnerable or malicious versions found publicly. Chainguard says it aims to eliminate malware and vulnerability risk across containers, dependencies, CI/CD actions and AI agent skills. Chainguard hardens open source before developers start writing a single line of code.[1][10]

Chainguard offers container images for over 3,000 projects, and hundreds of Helm charts, rebuilt continuously by AI reconciler agents in a SLSA Level 3 environment. Every Chainguard image ships with Sigstore signatures, a signed SBOM and SLSA L2 provenance. Chainguard Factory tracks upstream changes, triggers clean rebuilds and publishes new images with updated SBOMs and provenance. Custom Assembly configures Chainguard Factory to build images to a customer's specifications, using 30,000+ packages. Chainguard gives direct access to the APKs underpinning entitled Chainguard Containers. Chainguard offers updated EOL images with low-to-zero CVEs for up to 6 months to help teams transition off legacy software. Chainguard extends its secure-by-default standard to commercial ISV software.[1][10]

Chainguard offers over 1,200 FIPS-validated container variants and OS-level STIG hardening for regulated environments. Chainguard says zero-CVE images, signed SBOMs and full provenance simplify compliance across frameworks like FedRAMP, PCI DSS, SOC 2, CMMC and CRA. Chainguard says PCI DSS vulnerability management requirements create significant overhead for vendors handling cardholder data. Chainguard says Shift5 saved 2.5 months of engineering time per person on CVE remediation. Chainguard says Canva dodged hundreds of thousands of malware attacks on npm and PyPI. Chainguard says the Army Software Factory freed up 40% of developer time for mission-enabling innovation.[10][11][13]

Chainguard Libraries is a malware-free catalog of open source dependencies. Chainguard offers a catalog of Python, Java, JavaScript, Go and .NET packages so teams can turn off live access to public registries. Chainguard says customers switch standard registry endpoints to Chainguard to prevent malware and shrink the CVE backlog. Chainguard Libraries works with existing artifact managers and workflows. Chainguard says every Chainguard-built version comes with full provenance and signed SBOMs. Chainguard says every remediated package includes embedded SLSA L3 provenance and SBOMs. Chainguard says every package is scanned for malicious behavior before distribution. Chainguard Repository provides every package needed on day one and lets customers configure cooldowns.[12]

Chainguard VMs are minimal Linux images based on Chainguard OS and come in three types. Chainguard VMs include only the essential components for running containers: a Linux kernel, systemd, glibc, and optional userspace tools like SSH. Chainguard VMs support AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and on-premise hypervisors including VMware, Nutanix and OpenStack. Chainguard VMs carry a CVE remediation SLA of 7 days for critical and 14 days for high, medium, and low through automated rebuilds. Chainguard VMs support kernel-independent FIPS 140-3-validated cryptography. Chainguard VMs offer DISA STIG hardening and CIS Benchmark Level 1 hardening.[13]

Chainguard offers 30,000+ zero-CVE packages, including every package powering Chainguard Containers. Chainguard says secure packages can be swapped in whether a team builds with Bazel, Melange, Dockerfiles or another tool. Chainguard says every artifact ships with build-time generated SBOMs. Chainguard OS Packages has a FIPS variant built with the latest versions of Chainguard's FIPS-validated cryptographic modules. Chainguard offers a catalog of 1,000+ hardened third-party actions. Chainguard Actions are drop-in replacements for upstream GitHub Actions. Chainguard re-verifies and rehardens every action whenever its upstream version changes or a new attack pattern emerges. Every Chainguard Action ships with a full hardening report. Chainguard Guardener analyzes and rebuilds Dockerfiles layer by layer, maps packages and tests incrementally. Guardener opens a migration pull request for all actions with a drop-in Chainguard equivalent. Chainguard offers 1,000+ hardened community skills that are safe from malicious instructions.[10][14][15][16]

Chainguard says reconciler bots and AI agents run continuously across its entire catalog. Chainguard says every package is rebuilt from source in an isolated SLSA L3 environment on its own minimal OS. Chainguard says every build starts with an immutable SHA reference to the upstream source. Chainguard says it signs every artifact it ships. Chainguard says every image is rebuilt with a separate apko toolchain to produce a bitwise-equivalent result.[1][17]

Chainguard Checks runs CI inside Chainguard microVMs that produce cryptographically signed attestations. Chainguard Checks is currently in beta and is a Technology Preview. Chainguard Workspaces isolates untrusted code inside Chainguard-hardened microVMs. Chainguard Workspaces is currently in beta and is a Technology Preview. Chainguard Harness builds an application from source in an isolated environment and lets Mythos 5.1 hunt through a live instance for exploitable vulnerabilities. Chainguard Harness is currently in beta and is a Technology Preview.[1][4][6][18][19][20]

Chainguard on the record

Sources

Chainguard full record

  1. [1]chainguard.devChainguard · chainguard.dev · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Chainguard announces 280 million growth financing from general catalyst to usher in next era of trusted open source software 302592279Chainguard via PR Newswire · prnewswire.com · published October 23, 2025 · Tier A
  3. [3]Chainguard for the Public Sector | Secure OSSChainguard · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Chainguard for Financial Services | Prevent cyber attacksChainguard · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]The trusted source for open source | ChainguardChainguard · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Chainguard for Startups | Scale fast and securelyChainguard · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Proven, not promised: Chainguard Containers achieves SLSA Build Level 3Chainguard · published August 17, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Booz Allen Hamilton signs enterprise license agreement with ChainguardChainguard · published July 21, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Chainguard Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  10. [10]Chainguard Containers | 3,000+ hardened container imagesChainguard · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Simplify PCI-DSS Requirements with ChainguardChainguard · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Chainguard Libraries | Secure Open Source DependenciesChainguard · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Chainguard VMs | Secure your virtual machine imagesChainguard · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Chainguard OS Packages | 30,000+ secure packagesChainguard · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Chainguard Actions | Secure-by-default CI/CD workflowsChainguard · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Chainguard Guardener | Easy, AI-assisted migrationChainguard · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Chainguard Factory | ChainguardChainguard · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Chainguard Checks | Ship through trusted CIChainguard · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]Chainguard Workspaces | Code safely with agentsChainguard · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]Chainguard Harness | Eliminate CVE and malware exposureChainguard · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]Everything we announced at Chainguard Assemble London 2026Chainguard · published November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  22. [22]Chainguard Launches Athena, the Industry Coalition to Fix Open Source Vulnerabilities Before Attackers Can Find ThemPR Newswire · published June 15, 2026 · Tier A

Snyk full record

  1. [1]PlatformSnyk · snyk.io · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]AboutSnyk · snyk.io · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Snyk closes 196 5 million series g funding at 7 4 billion valuationSnyk · snyk.io · published December 13, 2022 · Tier A
  4. [4]MongodbSnyk · snyk.io · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]SkyscannerSnyk · snyk.io · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Auth0Snyk · snyk.io · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]snyk.ioSnyk · snyk.io · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]HelvetiaSnyk · snyk.io · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Agentic ai security moves into productionSnyk · snyk.io · published September 17, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Snyk launches evo continuous offensive securitySnyk · snyk.io · published August 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Snyk launches evo agentic development securitySnyk · snyk.io · published June 23, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Snyk AI Security Platform | Secure Code, Agents & Apps | SnykSnyk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Container vulnerability management | Container Security Tools | Kubernetes Security Solutions | SnykSnyk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Snyk Code | SAST Code Scanning Tool | Code Security Analysis & Fixes | SnykSnyk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Secure Coding with IDE Plugins | IDE Security Plugins | SnykSnyk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Customer Case Studies | SnykSnyk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Board | About us | SnykSnyk · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]AI-SPM | Agent security | Snyk User DocsSnyk User Docs · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]Snyk | Customer Product UpdatesSnyk · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]DeepCode AI | AI Code Review | AI Security for SAST | Snyk AI | SnykSnyk · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]How to Detect Tool Poisoning in MCP Server Security | Snyk LabsSnyk Labs · published August 19, 2025 · Tier A
  22. [22]Snyk StatusSnyk · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  23. [23]Snyk Unveils Evo Continuous Offensive Security to Bring AI-Native Pentesting to the Enterprise | SnykSnyk · published May 27, 2026 · Tier A
  24. [24]Snyk Launches Agent Security Solution to Protect the Full AI Lifecycle; Announces General Availability of Evo AI-SPM | SnykSnyk · published March 23, 2026 · Tier A
  25. [25]Snyk Launches Evo Agentic AppSec, Redefining Traditional AppSec With a Team of Security Agents | SnykSnyk · published October 15, 2026 · Tier A
  26. [26]As AI Risk Scales and Vulnerabilities Compound, Evo by Snyk Reaches 60% of New Deal Volume | SnykSnyk · published September 17, 2026 · Tier A

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